In arranging a site visit from a competitor, a cooking-oil refinery’s attempt to safeguard its technology via prior agreement was only partially successful. Though largely unenforceable, the agreement demonstrated the plaintiff’s desire and reasonable efforts to maintain its technology as ...

Tagged with: Business Law Contract Judge Norman K. Moon U.S. District Court - Western District

In a contract dispute between a Dominion subsidiary and a pipeline-construction company, the court resolved some issues related to non-payment claims, but held that the scope of the parties’ contract and certain aspects of its performance could not be determined ...

Tagged with: Construction Contract Judge John A. Gibney Jr. U.S. District Court - Eastern District Utilities

In trade-secret litigation concerning a disputed international patent for a sugar substitute, a defendant’s attempt to “join” related counter-defendants was procedurally improper under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 13(h). Background Sugar tastes good. But it’s unhealthy. So companies and scientists ...

Tagged with: Arbitration Business Law Civil Procedure Contract Judge Norman K. Moon Tort U.S. District Court - Western District

Appellant Gary Pisner filed a complaint against Appellee Mark Conley, asserting breach of a written contract to perform demolition and clean-up work at his property. Pisner sought compensatory damages of $76,000. After the complaint was served and Conley failed to ...

Tagged with: Civil Procedure Contract Per Curiam Opinion Supreme Court of Virginia Unpublished Opinion

Although the Virginia Consumer Protection Act covers interment rights, a plaintiff suing a cemetery owner failed to offer evidence of the misrepresentation needed to prove her claim. She said she asked for plots right next to her parents’ plots, but ...

Tagged with: Consumer Protection Contract Judge David W. Lannetti Norfolk Circuit Court Virginia Circuit Courts

The “Important Opinions” that appear each week on the front page of Virginia Lawyers Weekly are those chosen by our editors as the most likely to impact law practice or a given subject area of law. Below is a listing, ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Administrative Banking Bankruptcy Civil Procedure Civil Rights Commercial Constitutional Consumer Protection Contract Corporate Criminal Domestic Relations Employment Evidence Federal Jurisdiction First Amendment Government Immigration Intellectual Property Personal Injury Real Property Search & Seizure Supreme Court of Virginia Traffic U.S. District Court - Eastern District U.S. District Court - Western District Virginia Circuit Courts Virginia Court of Appeals Wills & Trusts

After a divorced couple’s former residence was significantly damaged by fire, the husband was entitled to reimbursements from the wife for his outlays to return to property to saleable condition. The trial court did not err in decreasing the wife’s ...

Tagged with: Contract Domestic Relations Family Law Judge Jean Harrison Clements Virginia Court of Appeals

Despite the defendant’s previous waiver of a preliminary hearing related to drug charges against him, he was not entitled to enforcement of an alleged oral plea agreement with a new prosecutor in his case. Background Defendant Sophann Mao was arrested ...

Tagged with: Contract Criminal Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge David A. Oblon Virginia Circuit Courts

Genuine disputes of material fact precluded summary judgment as to whether an insurance company improperly denied coverage for property damage after vandals cut a water line in a hotel undergoing renovations. The insurer claimed that the hotel owners had misrepresented ...

Tagged with: Contract Insurance Judge Henry Coke Morgan Jr. U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A written agreement between a corporation and the government preserved the company’s attorney-client privilege and work-product protection for information that the general counsel of a subsidiary entity disclosed to the government. Background Several years ago, federal prosecutors opened a grand ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Business Law Contract Criminal Evidence Judge Roger L. Gregory